Recognizing the Signs of Generational Trauma – a Story in 3 Parts About the Path to Healing
We’ve all had some experience with the genetic section in our high school or college biology class. We have a rough idea of how biological traits are passed on from generation to generation. Still, in addition to physical traits and genetic conditions, generational trauma can be passed down. Given that this is a relatively newer field of study for psychologists, they are still uncovering the nuances and subtitles of how GT manifests itself in subsequent generations.
How Watching Ms. Marvel Facilitates the Best Conversations With My Daughter
The premiere of Ms. Marvel on Disney+ this week has created a handful of camps: From “Christians Against Ms. Marvel” on Facebook, Muslim influencers calling out tokenization, to millennial Muslims rejoicing at their own reflection in the Marvel Comics Universe, foes and fans of Kamala Khan run the gamut.
Tracing the Roots of Our Collective Generational Trauma Stories – Part 2 About the Path to Healing
I am the type of person that packs for a trip picturing the worst-case scenario of crashing on a deserted Island (LOST-style) and having my suitcase appear on the shoreline, ready to tackle any of the obstacles we will face as survivors. I have since found out that this is a result of my chronic anxiety, and packing this way helps me feel in control of the situation and is a coping mechanism to help navigate the chronic trauma I have embedded in my DNA.
How My Daughter Decided to Wear Hijab Despite Her Mom's Trepidations
Having a daughter is #goals, and that’s why I talk about mine a lot. Did you catch my last article about watching Ms. Marvel with my daughter and how it led to some very eye-opening conversations about trust and being seen as a Muslim? Bear with me, I know I’m the annoying mom with stories galore of my babies to share with unwilling audiences.
6 Actions to Help You Heal from Generational Trauma
I want to be honest with you. I have had a very difficult time sitting down and writing this. I wish I could just tell you I am miraculously healed, that my every day is filled with rainbows and butterflies and that my relationship with my parents is fantastic. But not only would I be lying to you, but also to myself.
Embracing Your Power – a Mommying While Muslim Wellness Retreat for All Women
We’ve been writing columns for The Haute Take on all topics of Muslim parenting for more than a year now, and on the eve of our first retreat, it feels like a good time to talk about how this podcast and our mission came to be.
3 Things (Out of Many) that Muslim Women Converts Want You to Know
By Dr Uzma Jafri
As most of our listeners (and people who pretend to be our listeners but really only follow our Instagram) know, the Mommying While Muslim podcast hosts themed podcasts every month. We call them series and believe they’re easier to follow along this way, as each episode builds on the next. At least that’s the idea of our overly anxious executive producer. That’s me.
Dear Muslim Men: When Will You REALLY Show Up for Victims of Domestic Violence?
Dear Muslim men,
I am not afraid of you.
This is the birdsong of my thoughts, in hopes that one day I will believe it.
Before classrooms were my training ground, my education was assembled piecemeal from the hushed conversations of women and the smoky tobacco clouds of men. This is where I learned the words “custody,” “police,” “divorce,” and “shari.”
Recognizing the Signs of Domestic Violence and How to Break Free
One in four women are victims of domestic violence. That is a staggering statistic – 25 percent of ALL women say they are somehow abused by their spouse (or significant other). Personally, I feel like the number is likely more significant as the intangible versions of domestic abuse tend not to be reported.
5 Ways Living a Shukr (Gratitude)-Based Life Helps Your Physical Well-Being
For many people, November brings the impending feeling of dread that “winter is coming.” But for me, the chill in the air, the crispy fallen leaves and the annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special fills me with gratitude. In our family, it’s forced family time – games of touch football, movies in front of the fireplace, and comfort foods we only bring out at this time of year.
How the Mommying While Muslim Podcast Prioritizes Moms & Cuts Through Toxic Culture
As firstborns, Zaiba (my co-podcaster at Mommying While Muslim) and I are usually right. Check the research, and it’ll tell you that the gift of big headedness is for firstborns. We are firstborn and daughters. And now that we are in our forties, we are most assuredly right, but less vocal about it outside of our podcast. It’s 100 percent true that wisdom comes with age, and we are not too proud to report that our wisdom came at the expense of falling on our faces or butts many times.
Throw Out Those New Year Resolutions and Do These 5 Things Instead!
As someone who doesn’t “celebrate” any major holidays in December, I still use the holiday season as a way to end the year on a positive note. And that’s usually, by having lots of family connection time, resetting my annual intentions, or creating a space of love and light into the new year.
7 Parenting Methods to Show Your Intentions of Love with Grown Children
When our children are born, they come into this world with a vulnerability that demands our instincts to love and protect them. We hold them close; we love them with a fierceness that can’t be described with words because the gift we have been given is so overwhelmingly powerful. All we can DO is love them.
5 Ways to Practice Self-Love that Doesn't Cost a Dime (But Takes Dedication)
I have been feeling a bit “off” the last few weeks and falling into some toxic patterns of behavior that I thought I had rehabilitated, but apparently, the cloud of darkness that enveloped me was just a bit stronger than the tools I had learned during my healing process. (I will leave THAT story for another day.) As mothers, we are the heart of the household, and everyone around us can feel our positive or negative energy, and this was becoming apparent in my home.
10 Ways to Have a Healthy (and Enjoyable) Intimate Relationship With Your Spouse
February is the month that we and our listeners look forward to because topics such as sexual rights AND dysfunction and reproductive health show up. Summed “women’s health” by mainstream, we don’t call it that on our Mommying While Muslim podcast because frankly, no one would listen. So we spell it out, continue to laugh and learn more about our bodies and sexual selves and invite all on this ride with us.
Prepping Your College Kid (Who's Living Away From Home) for Ramadan
This is the first Ramadan my eldest will not be with our family during Ramadan. I feel angst surrounding it for various reasons, all of which ultimately stems from my insecurities as a parent in providing the proper Islamic foundation for my eldest, who has Grown and Flown from the nest and is in college.
6 Crucial Ways to Raise Resilient Kids and Strengthen Their Emotional Well Being
Every parent wants their children to feel prepared to take on whatever life throws at them with courage and confidence. And especially with all our kids have seen and gone through – like the growing influence of social media, the COVID-19 global pandemic or ongoing mass shootings and gun violence in the U.S. – we know that having strong emotional health is key to achieving this. It's never too early to start instilling these skills in our kids.
Brainz Magazine Feature
Zaiba Hasan and Dr. Uzma Jafri are cohosts of the award-winning podcast, Mommying While Muslim. What started out as a quest to find answers to their own questions about raising American Muslim children in a post 9/11 America turned into an international support system for this community of mothers and their allies. Mommying While Muslim tackles a range of topics like their introduction says, “from potty-training to politics.” They invite us to sit at their virtual kitchen table for a glimpse of the world they face every day with their kids. Zaiba & Uzma have decided to put themselves in interview mode to change the format they’re usually operating in as podcast cohosts. Today, they’re in the hot seat!
How Learning About Islam Helped Manage the Lingering Demons of Domestic Violence
With October comes Domestic Violence Awareness, and I loathe to recall my own childhood and adolescent experiences with it. It stirs pools of memory, allowing painful ones to surface, the ones I worked so hard to drown with 99 excuses, positivity and the sweat of intense work – both physical and mental. But the demons are there, threatening my relationships with my sons, and so I have to deep dive to meet it again and again.
What Does it MEAN? Figuring out College Applications & Other Options for Your Kid’s Future
When going through the college application process, just learning the terms can be overwhelming and daunting. Sometimes you have to call in the professionals and glad that I have Salman Khan, founder of Muslim Campus Life to direct this conversation. I spoke with him for the 411 (the information) on the college application process.